sap taco bar is good. depends on what u want. tortacos is good too. one of the few places where there could put too much meat. there is a south street steaks here too. but if u are into sushi, go check out sushi end in rockville,. sushi is good, cheap, and fast there.

The Jrk could not be taught. I partial blame myself --taking a bigger bite than I could chew.

If I can help you than great.

Miyagi voice: Daniel son, hit nail with hammer on wall you get flat serve. Hit nail on ceiling you get a kick serve.

Start with that

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pls no more vids. between striking at the 6 of the ball and hitting up, my timing is fubar. I think I need a bucket of balls and someone yelling at me to get this right. I feel sorry for the next person I will play against. surely he or she will win, but it will be boring when it comes time for me to serve. "winning surely comes with sacrifices."

kinda on the court, just can't run yet. I have been able to use my legs alittle to push off during hitting. fall is here soon, I prob have another 2 months left. even though I can hit when below 55 degrees, not many ppl want to join me.

I made some curry beef brisket on the slow cooker last night. Reynold slow cooker liner saved me from 15 minutes of cleaning. I think this is the best thing invented since the stick blender.

Maybe Im not the authority on kick serves, but I used to have a pretty good one. lack of practice has made it barely above average.

Ive had acouple poeple ask to me teach them. Its almost always been the same. Show them how I grip it, where to toss it. They hit a few decent. Tell them they have to really attack the ball to get the spin/kick. They hit a few more, get frusttrated. i tell them to hit like 1000 serves a week fro two months then they should be pretty confident. They dont.

I had a guy show me the grip and stuff when I was like 19. Never practiced it until I was like 26. But I remember starting off I would frame alot of balls and they would rocket almost stright up in the air. The pro at the center said I was getting close just maybe the toss had to more in the court and not striaght behind me. I eventually figured it out.

so i got my butt kicked this weekend...badly...in 8.5 men's combo, lost to a solid pair (really strong 4.5 on the other side of the court...and couldn't get into any kind of groove...0 and 2...

then in 9.5 men's combo, ran into my first 5.5 on the other side of the court...this sums up the day...i hit my hardest serve i can possibly hit down the T...he causally hits a winner, past my partner, up the line, for a winner...lost, 1 and 1...my partner was only a 4.5 and a total nutcase...threw his racquet about 20 times...one time it landed on the court next to us -- going threw the net between the courts somehow...

Maybe Im not the authority on kick serves, but I used to have a pretty good one. lack of practice has made it barely above average.

Ive had acouple poeple ask to me teach them. Its almost always been the same. Show them how I grip it, where to toss it. They hit a few decent. Tell them they have to really attack the ball to get the spin/kick. They hit a few more, get frusttrated. i tell them to hit like 1000 serves a week fro two months then they should be pretty confident. They dont.

I had a guy show me the grip and stuff when I was like 19. Never practiced it until I was like 26. But I remember starting off I would frame alot of balls and they would rocket almost stright up in the air. The pro at the center said I was getting close just maybe the toss had to more in the court and not striaght behind me. I eventually figured it out.

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u don't need a kicker. I heard that u put craters in the serve box with ur flat serves.

I passed by Edgewood, a couple of weekends ago. was going to Philly for a concert. was trying to find the R & R tex-mex restaurant. ended up detouring passing thru Aberdeen after getting 7-11 gas there. It felt like I was the only asian in the town.

woot! if these aren't the holy grail for me -- i will be shocked and amazed. mostly shocked though. as a backup i picked up two used m-fil 300's. it unfortunately did not come with the original red and white striped grips which made it look like aquafresh. i do however recall sapient used to play with these. good enough for sappy - good enough for monkey is what i always say.

CB - you don't need a twist serve if you are over the age of 30. it puts an awful lot of strain on your lower back. work on a reliable topspin serve that you can hit anywhere in the service box.

u don't need a kicker. I heard that u put craters in the serve box with ur flat serves.

I passed by Edgewood, a couple of weekends ago. was going to Philly for a concert. was trying to find the R & R tex-mex restaurant. ended up detouring passing thru Aberdeen after getting 7-11 gas there. It felt like I was the only asian in the town.

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Not any more my friend, myabe 3 or 4 years ago. Though I was playing with some kids the opther day and I was bombing some serves probably like 110is. The guy was mezmerised adn said "Ive never see ball marks that long before"

here are not many asians, but they are increasing now with the BRAC and all the Jersey IT jobs. But most of them live in Delaware where taxes are way lower.

woot! if these aren't the holy grail for me -- i will be shocked and amazed. mostly shocked though. as a backup i picked up two used m-fil 300's. it unfortunately did not come with the original red and white striped grips which made it look like aquafresh. i do however recall sapient used to play with these. good enough for sappy - good enough for monkey is what i always say.

CB - you don't need a twist serve if you are over the age of 30. it puts an awful lot of strain on your lower back. work on a reliable topspin serve that you can hit anywhere in the service box.

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Beckers specs look like something I would like.

Never liked feel of dunlops. Though I have an old MAX Superlong that used to blast flat serves no nothing else. It sucked for groundies, but so did I when I used it. I would go to Harford communtiy college at like 1AM and my friend and I would go at it. One time these old dudes were there at like 2AM playing. My friend and I both were blasting serves liek Pete.

I blasted one down the T that went though the fence and bounced on there court. The old guys was like "How do you even see it"

That was like when my 1st serve was 6.0 level and the rest of my game was like 1.5 level. Still probably 3.5 though.

Boiught a pair of those Asics Solution Speeds. The all green ones. Pretty sweet shoe. Not quite as good as my old Diadora speed pro's. But closest Ive wore so far. And the sole looks to be holding up pretty well.

woot! if these aren't the holy grail for me -- i will be shocked and amazed. mostly shocked though. as a backup i picked up two used m-fil 300's. it unfortunately did not come with the original red and white striped grips which made it look like aquafresh. i do however recall sapient used to play with these. good enough for sappy - good enough for monkey is what i always say.

CB - you don't need a twist serve if you are over the age of 30. it puts an awful lot of strain on your lower back. work on a reliable topspin serve that you can hit anywhere in the service box.

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I need a monkey lesson on topspin serves then. But I want to know now too, since two folks have mentioned about a topspin serve. Any difference between this and a kicker? Is it one I hit from 6 to 12 and another 8 to 2 or something like that?

to some people a topspin serve and a kick serve are one and the same. but a kick serve can also refer to an american twist serve which is a different beast. an american twist serve is the tennis equivalent of a screwball. it bounces or kicks in the opposite direction a "normal" serve would bounce.

there was a TWMAC'er named MrHan who had a particularly filthy one. must've bounced a 6 feet or so in the wrong direction. there was another poster named TFM - god rest his soul - who had a decent twist as well.

here's federer's famous kick serve. watch the bounce it takes IN THE WRONG DIRECTION.

to some people a topspin serve and a kick serve are one and the same. but a kick serve can also refer to an american twist serve which is a different beast. an american twist serve is the tennis equivalent of a screwball. it bounces or kicks in the opposite direction a "normal" serve would bounce.

there was a TWMAC'er named MrHan who had a particularly filthy one. must've bounced a 6 feet or so in the wrong direction. there was another poster named TFM - god rest his soul - who had a decent twist as well.

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My dubs partner has a nasty twisty (as she calls it). Would love a real kicker but figure I'm too old to learn one without killin my shoulder or back (which have nary given me trouble to date, fiercely knocking on wood!). But she's got a secret: she's a natural lefty...playing righty. Broke the left wrist in HS and wanted to keep playing so switched hands. I like to say...she's got a beautiful one-handed BH...and a 2HFH :shock:

here's federer's famous kick serve. watch the bounce it takes IN THE WRONG DIRECTION.

Boiught a pair of those Asics Solution Speeds. The all green ones. Pretty sweet shoe. Not quite as good as my old Diadora speed pro's. But closest Ive wore so far. And the sole looks to be holding up pretty well.

Didnt you have a pair of Rez 2's? How do you compare them to the newer ones?

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Had about 6 pair of the 2s, and IMO it was the best version so far. Haven't tried the 4s, and the 3s are okay. Might give the Speeds a try once this ankle thing clears up.

And TFM's twist serve? It did bounce the other way, but only about as high as my nose. And I ain't no Dwight Howard, you know. I think Tennismonkey has a much better twist and overall game.

BTW, saw our departed Auzzie give MrHan all he wanted one day at Kenwood, twist and all. Whatever happened to that Auzzie guy? Just thought of him while watching this gal Waltzing Mathilde Johansson in the Open. Looks like she's wearing Speeds.

i tried Sups advice.. he kept wanting me to get a brushing noise... then i would hit a flat serve for the 100th time. poor sup suffered through some tough sessions trying to teach that serve to me & jrk. but jrk would then proceed to hit 2 double faults followed by 4 aces so we would usually just scrap the project and go drink dogfish beerz.

i tried HWs advice of just trying to hit 1000 kick serves a day. but 1000 kick serve attempts with improper form just breaks your arm.

i still wouldn't call my serve a kick serve but it has gotten better spin. i think the keys for me were a lighter racquet that allowed me to get faster swing speed from backscratch to contact instead of using a heavy racquet where i was kind of slow up to the ball but then got fast from contact to follow-through.
donaldyoungs 2nd serve reminds me of what im trying to do.. it is all about loose wrist and earlier snap of the wrist UP to the ball instead of trying to hammer the ball down into the court. im using a size 2 grip which might have helped my spin serve but i think it also increased pain in my wrist so if ever play again i think i have to put 2 overgrips on that mofo.

I always had people call my serve a kicker. How can you hit a top spin serve that doesnt kick or bounce the other way? Slices continue in the same direction but dont have enough topspin to bounce high.

I always thought an American twist was where you hit the inside of the ball and it spun away from you. Opposite of a slice with no no kick. I never knew what I called a kicker poeple called a twist.

Now just thinking baout it I think I know whats wrong with my second serve now. I think im letting the toss fall down to far and and Im not attacking it at its highest point. So hitting it more like a loopy forhand and not getting the pace I used to get out of it. And its not bouncing as high or as sideways as it used to.

I used to get tons of cheap points becuase the bounce was so tough for poeple to handle. Id blast 1st serves at like a 50% clip, and get cheapo points off well placed kickers out wide and to the body. Thats how a guy with 2.5 ability is 4.0 when all he can do is serve.

I got somethign to work on know.

Is anyone hitting this weekend? Ill make the trip if it at raining.

Zap, let me test out my new an improved kicker with Ti80's on your BB sticks

Had about 6 pair of the 2s, and IMO it was the best version so far. Haven't tried the 4s, and the 3s are okay. Might give the Speeds a try once this ankle thing clears up.

And TFM's twist serve? It did bounce the other way, but only about as high as my nose. And I ain't no Dwight Howard, you know. I think Tennismonkey has a much better twist and overall game.

BTW, saw our departed Auzzie give MrHan all he wanted one day at Kenwood, twist and all. Whatever happened to that Auzzie guy? Just thought of him while watching this gal Waltzing Mathilde Johansson in the Open. Looks like she's wearing Speeds.

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So you liked the 2's and I didnt like them at all. Maybe thats a hint to not try the solutions. I tried on the 4s though and the felt pretty good to me. And that black and green colorway looks pretty sweet. But the TW exclusive color also look pretty wicked.

xisbum -- my game is not especially awesome as of late. this would be a prime time for you to show me your experience over marginally younger legs. i've been amused though that i'm being recruited for age 40+ teams. senior leagues here i come!

cb -- got my londons in yesterday. full bed tour bite 17g at 50 pounds. a lot of power. a good chunk more than my exo3 tours. almost as much as a pure drive. that was surprising. spin was very good but not quite exo3 tour or APD level. quality control on these sticks wasn't tremendous. one weighed 318 grams with dampener. the other 326 grams with dampener. swingweight is listed on TW at 311 but they felt a little sluggish. balance on these are 4 pts HL. but just on comfort alone they are very nice and the feedback on a well struck ball is nice. i wish i felt that more often than 1 out of 10 shots.

sup -- i know i'm a slappy forehand hitter. i know i need to not break my wrist on forehands. you know it, i know it, the american people know it. what's the easiest cure? when i keep the wrist laid back -- my forehands have nice pop and sizzle. the other 9 forehands are mostly pop and fizzle. any mental tricks? ball machine? hypnotherapy?

xisbum -- my game is not especially awesome as of late. this would be a prime time for you to show me your experience over marginally younger legs. i've been amused though that i'm being recruited for age 40+ teams. senior leagues here i come!

cb -- got my londons in yesterday. full bed tour bite 17g at 50 pounds. a lot of power. a good chunk more than my exo3 tours. almost as much as a pure drive. that was surprising. spin was very good but not quite exo3 tour or APD level. quality control on these sticks wasn't tremendous. one weighed 318 grams with dampener. the other 326 grams with dampener. swingweight is listed on TW at 311 but they felt a little sluggish. balance on these are 4 pts HL. but just on comfort alone they are very nice and the feedback on a well struck ball is nice. i wish i felt that more often than 1 out of 10 shots.

sup -- i know i'm a slappy forehand hitter. i know i need to not break my wrist on forehands. you know it, i know it, the american people know it. what's the easiest cure? when i keep the wrist laid back -- my forehands have nice pop and sizzle. the other 9 forehands are mostly pop and fizzle. any mental tricks? ball machine? hypnotherapy?

zap -- do me a favor and weigh your londons if you can. i found my londons to be 8 grams apart. maybe yours have better quality control. i'll be happy to give you another visit to the bakery for bagels and breadsticks.

auzzie -- don't be a stranger. i know the time difference is huge down under. it's 11:00am here and where you are it's 1985.

jrstriker -- welcome to the twmac. do you play much tennis? i find tour bite in the 40's is super awesome. i'm not in DC often but when i am -- i prefer dos equis. let's do lunch soon. i'll bring the sapient.

Now just thinking baout it I think I know whats wrong with my second serve now. I think im letting the toss fall down to far and and Im not attacking it at its highest point. So hitting it more like a loopy forhand and not getting the pace I used to get out of it. And its not bouncing as high or as sideways as it used to.

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I don't have a great kick serve - average at best. Every now and then, I hit a decent one...

But the best ones do let it drop a little more before striking it. It does loop more when you do that with all the racquet head speed brushing upward - the massive topspin will bring it down into the court and "kick" up when it bounces. Just lots of practice will get it to kick more with better pace, too.

Downs and I have had a few colleagues that have pretty nasty kick serves. Auzzie, as I recall, has a pretty good one when he goes for it.

jrstriker -- welcome to the twmac. do you play much tennis? i find tour bite in the 40's is super awesome. i'm not in DC often but when i am -- i prefer dos equis. let's do lunch soon. i'll bring the sapient.

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Cool. Lunch when and where? I can prob work something close to the red line halfway between here and MD.